Bandos' Stronghold

This area has been rated as EXTREMELY HIGH-RISK. You should never attempt to fight General Graardor with items you are not willing to risk losing, and while there, you should expect your death as a possibility at all times.

While Graardor lives, his three bodyguards respawn instantly when killed. Each minion uses attacks from one corner of the combat triangle. Graardor will only attack when next to his target, but his ranged attack hits everyone in the room.

General Graardor resides in Bandos' Stronghold in the God Wars Dungeon, along with his bodyguards, who represent the three points of the combat triangle: Sergeant Steelwill (magic), Sergeant Grimspike (ranged) and Sergeant Strongstack (melee). You need to bash on the door of the Stronghold with a hammer to enter it (requires 70 strength). To enter the room containing General Graardor and his bodyguards, you must first kill 40 of his followers, who are found in Bandos' Stronghold and in the central area of the God Wars Dungeon. The best spot for killcount is outside the Stronghold, near the ice bridge to Zamorak's Fortress, on goblins and hobgoblins (red square). For this spot you will need to bring a Zamorak item to protect yourself from Zamorak's followers' aggression. A Zamorak arrow is most convenient. The other spot is on hobgoblins, outside the Stronghold, but just south of the Bandos boss room (yellow square). You do not need an item for this spot.

To protect yourself from Bandos' soldiers' aggression, you must wear a Bandos item, any of the unique items dropped by Nex or take a bath in the Bandos pool at Oo'glog. The latter is recommended if you can't use Bandos chestplate, tassets or Torva items when they are listed in the set-ups below. The pool will protect you for one hour.

All set-ups in this guide are approximates and you should adjust them to suit your needs, especially the amount of potions you bring.

Equipment - Warrior

Warriors are the damage-oriented companions to a single tank. Their job is to kill Graardor as quickly as possible while the tank draws Graardor's melee attacks away from them. Because Graardor's ranged attack is the most dangerous to them, warriors pray protect from ranged.

This set-up offers the highest damage output on General Graardor but comes with minimal defence. Since you will not be under attack directly, this only matters if you make a mistake or if the tank dies - use void if you are confident or in a large team.

Dreadnips can be a powerful addition to your offensive power - use them if you have them. They must be directed to attack Graardor each kill.

If you do not have a chaotic melee weapon you can use an Abyssal whip or Goliath gloves (unarmed) instead, but they are much worse than chaotics.

This set-up offers more defence and slightly less offence. Since you will not be under attack directly, this only matters if you make a mistake or if the tank dies. This set-up is suitable for teams of which the members take turns tanking.
Dreadnips can be a powerful addition to your offensive power - use them if you have them. They must be directed to attack Graardor each kill.

If you do not have a chaotic melee weapon you can use an Abyssal whip or Goliath gloves (unarmed) instead, but they are much worse than chaotics.

Without overloads, you can't rely on Saradomin brews to heal you (or you have to compromise your attack and strength level boosts). If you have a unicorn or soul split you will not need brews, but this set-up is not recommended for alternating tanks.
Dreadnips can be a powerful addition to your offensive power - use them if you have them. They must be directed to attack Graardor each kill.

If you do not have a chaotic melee weapon you can use an Abyssal whip or Goliath gloves (unarmed) instead, but they are much worse than chaotics.

Strategy - Warrior
At all times, when Graardor is alive: Pray protect from/deflect ranged and piety/turmoil.

As warrior, your main function is damaging the General. Part of this job is dealing more damage than any competition you might face. To make sure you get a kill, use your special recover potions and unleash two dragon claw special attacks every kill as long as the competition is serious. If you do not have dragon claws you can replace the special recover potions with others as you prefer. Dreadnips can be a powerful addition to your offensive power - use them if you have them. They must be directed to attack Graardor each kill.

The minions are best killed with a chaotic rapier, however due to your teammates they will probably die quickly enough that your maul will do fine. Use soul split to heal if you have it, and kill the minions in this order to minimize damage taken: Sergeant Steelwill (magic), Sergeant Grimspike (ranged), and finally Sergeant Strongstack (melee). Use the correct protect prayer if you do not have soul split.

Make sure to have one familar summoned before travelling to the God Wars Dungeon. If you bring a beast of burden, fill it with prayer potions and bring more overloads or attack/strength potions and prayer renewal potions in your inventory. If your bob is a yak, bring a spare yak pouch in its last space - you will be able to last for almost three hours, so bring potions accordingly.

You will not need much additional healing with a unicorn, but your trips will be shorter than with a yak, and you will not be able to bank any of Graardor's ourg bones (but one of your warriors could take care of that).

If you do not have a chaotic melee weapon you can use an Abyssal whip or Goliath gloves (unarmed) instead, but they are much worse than chaotics.

With your yak full of health and prayer restore, you will be able to last for a long time, as well as being able to bank Graardor's ourg bones. Be sure to only use bones to peaches on regular bones and fill your yak with two thirds Saradomin brews and the rest super restores. This set-up is recommended for tanks who have access to the best items.

If you do not have a chaotic melee weapon you can use an Abyssal whip or Goliath gloves (unarmed) instead, but they are much worse than chaotics.

Without overloads, your attack and strength level will be lowered by Saradomin brews. Only use them if you have two or more warriors, otherwise your damage output is too important. If you have a unicorn or soul split you will not need many brews, but this set-up is not recommended for alternating tanks.

If you do not have a chaotic melee weapon you can use an Abyssal whip or Goliath gloves (unarmed) instead, but they are much worse than chaotics.

Strategy - Tank
At all times, when Graardor is alive: Pray protect from/deflect melee and piety/turmoil.

As tank, your main function is taking the largest share of Graardor's damage, his ranged attacks, to protect your warriors. While doing this you must still do damage. Using Saradomin brews reduces your attack and strength levels, so avoid using them unless you are in danger (below 600 lifepoints). Ideally, use a timer to determine the moments your overload will boost your stats - they happen every 15 seconds after drinking. If you drink a dose of brew one or two seconds before the boost, you will not lose damage output. The Dominion marker will reboost your stats by 10, and quicker than your overload does, but only up to your level plus 10.

Dreadnips can be a powerful addition to your offensive power - use them if you have them. They must be directed to attack Graardor each kill.

The minions are best killed with a chaotic rapier, however due to your teammates they will probably die quickly enough that your longsword will do fine. Use soul split to heal if you have it, and kill the minions in this order to minimize damage taken: Sergeant Steelwill (magic), Sergeant Grimspike (ranged), and finally Sergeant Strongstack (melee). Use the correct protect prayer if you do not have soul split.

Make sure to have one familar summoned before travelling to the God Wars Dungeon. If you bring a beast of burden with one of the non-yak set-ups above, fill it with a third super restores, the rest Saradomin brews and bring more overloads or attack/strength potions and prayer renewal potions in your inventory. If your bob is a yak, bring a spare yak pouch in its last space - you will be able to last for almost three hours, so bring potions accordingly.

Equipment - Solo

Soloing Bandos has both drawbacks and benefits over teams. It's much easier to start a trip, and you get to keep all your drops yourself, although your trips are much shorter, and usually more expensive. In general this works out to higher profit per hour. The requirements to solo uninterrupted are very high, as the competetion for kills is fierce.

This is a high-power set-up based on soul split flashing with the maul, which shares Graardor's attack speed. The hammer on your toolbelt can be used to enter the stronghold. Enter the God Wars dungeon with rapier and defender equipped to save one inventory space to carry it in. Use a shield only if you want a very long trip with slower kills.

If you do not have a chaotic melee weapon you can use an Abyssal whip or Goliath gloves (unarmed) instead, but they are much worse than chaotics.

Strategy - Solo
At all times, when Graardor is alive: Pray protect from/deflect melee and piety/turmoil.

On your own, you will take all of Graardor's punishment while also having to kill him as quickly as possible. You must do more damage than any competition you may face as well. To make sure you get a kill, use your special recover potions and unleash two dragon claw special attacks every kill as long as the competition is serious. Dreadnips can be a powerful addition to your offensive power - use them if you have them. They must be directed to attack Graardor each kill.

An important tactic to preserve health is soul split flashing. Soul split flashing is the art of gaining the benefits of soul split while using a protect prayer. Flashing maintains health without using up precious resources, mainly Saradomin brews. It can greatly extend the length of your trips and makes kills smoother as you do not need to brew as much. To flash, your attacks must not coincide with Graardors or you will die quickly. Activate soul split half a second before you start swinging your maul and quickly turn deflect melee back on once the animation starts. It is recommended to practice this on another monster first (such as waterfiends) and then as a warrior in a Bandos team before attempting this solo, as the risks are quite large.

Because you are alone, it will take some time to kill the minions after Graardor dies - the rapier and defender are there to speed it up. Using soul split on the minions will ensure you start each kill at full health without using up resources. Kill the minions in this order to minimize damage taken: Sergeant Steelwill (magic), Sergeant Grimspike (ranged), and finally Sergeant Strongstack (melee). Use the correct protect prayer if you do not have soul split.

Make sure to have one familar summoned before travelling to the God Wars Dungeon. Fill your yak with a third super restores and the rest Saradomin brews.

Equipment - Low level

Whelp! I don't have chaotics, extremes or unicorns, let alone turmoil, overloads and a yak! Don't fret, here's a few low level set-ups to kill Graardor with. Bear in mind you will not be able to compete with the set-ups above and profit will be slim to none. Sometimes you might not even be able to kill Graardor at all, but that's the thrill of the hunt!

As warrior, you do not have access to a beast of burden - both terrorbird and tortoise are agressive, which draws Graardor to attack you, nullifying the tank's efforts to protect you. For the same reason you can't use elemental titans or any other fighting familiar. Start a trip with a familiar summoned, if you use a fruit bat, replace one rocktail with fruitfall scrolls.

As tank, you will need so much healing that it simply isnt't worth bringing boosting potions anymore. Focus on staying alive first and damage output second. You can bring a spirit terrorbird or war tortoise filled with additional Saradomin brews to last longer. Your second familiar's pouch should be in your familiar. If it's not a bunyip, bring Titan's constitution scrolls or Fruitfall scrolls as well.

Soloing without high-end gear is a risky business, but it's also a challenge. Bring a beast of burden filled with food, as you can't rely on brews - your attack level would be rock bottom most of the time. You will probably not last your first familiar - dismiss it and summon the second one as soon as your bob is empty.

Strategy - Lower levels
Warriors and tanks do much the same regardless of level, the numbers are just lower. Due to the lower kill speeds, Graardor is effectively alive a greater part of the time than he would be in a high-level team, resulting in more damage taken. This means time-based stackable healing methods, such as familiars and Enhanced Excalibur will be able to cover a smaller part of your total healing. In short: you will be able to kill less Graardors per trip as well as per hour.

As a tank, drink three doses of Saradomin brew when your health falls 300 below its max, followed by one dose of super restore potion. As soloer, walk under General Graardor and quickly eat a rocktail to heal - he shouldn't be able to attack you during healing. For both warrior and soloer, drink one dose of the following potions, in order: Saradomin brew, super restore, super attack, super strength before entering the boss room. Repeat this sequence every time a new kill starts.

Note that rings of wealth do not work when lootshare is enabled.

Conclusion

Bandos is one of the simpler God Wars dungeon bosses to understand, and is a good first boss for beginners to try out. Killcount can be had on low-leveled creatures, and the boss's attacks can be avoided so long as you are not tanking. It is also one of the more popular bosses to team, so finding a group is usually easier than the other bosses. However, competition is also fiercer. Keep that in mind, and have fun!